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Man fatally shot near Modesto Junior College

A shooting near Modesto Junior College on Thursday morning left one man dead and another in custody.

According to Modesto police, the incident was reported at 11:14 a.m. in the 1300 block of Leonard Avenue, which is a block north of the MJC East Campus.

Police found a man in the road, suffering from a gunshot wound. The man, identified as Kirk Lund, 51, was taken to an area hospital, where he later died.

Witnesses provided officers with a description of a man they had spotted walking away from the crime scene.

The man led police on a short foot chase that ended on Tully Road just south of Coldwell Avenue, across from the MJC field. As he ran, police say, he threw a gun on top of a convenience store.

Police shut down the area while they recovered the weapon and took the man into custody. His name, age and hometown were not released Thursday afternoon because he had not been booked, police spokeswoman Heather Graves said.

Graves said authorities had not determined a motive behind the shooting. Police remained at the Leonard Avenue scene for several hours, talking to witnesses.

Alvin Prasad, who heard about the slaying and posted about it on Facebook, said he had worked with Lund at a real estate company, where Lund was a handyman. He said he had known Lund for more than 10 years, referring to him as a friend of the family.

“He’s a real cool dude,” Prasad told The Bee. “He always made time to come help my parents out and took care of whatever we needed.”

Prasad said Lund was an excellent handyman, fixing broken dishwashers and leaky faucets and the like. When tenants moved out of a property, Lund would clean it and prepare it for the next renter.

Prasad said he had no idea how Lund could come to be involved in a shooting.

“I think he was covering up graffiti,” Prasad said. “That’s what he was doing today.”

Prasad said Lund was married and had four children.

“This dude is like the coolest dude out there,” Prasad said. “He did really good work.”

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